


American Men with Dogs

by FFFORI



Category: Hannibal (TV), Hit Parade (Fiction), John Wick (Movies), Keller Series, Keller Series by Lawrence Block, Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Coffee Shop, Crossover, Daily Life in NYC, Do my best to write sweet, Happy Ending, M/M, Murder Husbands, POI husbands, Puppies, dog person, hit men, men in suits, small talks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-24 22:24:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20022010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FFFORI/pseuds/FFFORI
Summary: They share so much in common: the suit, the dog, the name, and the job.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [American Men with Dogs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20014510) by [FFFORI](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FFFORI/pseuds/FFFORI). 



> Quotidian Hit Man in New York has a dog;  
> Legendary Hit Man in New York has a dog;  
> Anonymous problem-solving husbands in New York have a dog.
> 
> Will Graham: "I have more dogs than them."  
> Hannibal Lector: "You don't live in New York."
> 
> I highly recommaned the Keller Series/Hit Man Series by Lawrence Block!  
> When I first saw the summary to Keller, it caught my attention. And later I became more and more intersted in this Series.
> 
> Quote from the official website of Lawrence Block: http://lawrenceblock.com/books/hit-man/
> 
> Keller is your basic urban Lonely Guy. He makes a decent wage, lives in a nice apartment. Works the crossword puzzle. Watches a little TV. Until the phone rings and he packs a suitcase, gets on a plane, flies halfway across the country…and kills somebody. It’s a living. But is it a life? Keller’s not sure. He goes to a shrink, but it doesn’t work out the way he planned. He gets a dog, he gets a girlfriend. He gets along

Today was no different from other mornings as Reese always thinks until he walked to Central Park. He put a lead for Bear: "Morning, Finch."

Then he met two dogs, started small talks like all normal dog owners did, and then happened to be an interesting coincidence.

They walked to Central Park, and Bear scented the grass all the way. He walked at a moderate speed, neither falling behind nor clasping the leash. The air was fresh in the morning, but the mist won't dissipate before the sun rose. Some early birds in sportswear were already jogging in the park. Finch glanced at Reese. He's still in suit as usual: black windbreaker, black suit, the innermost white shirt unbuttoned two buttons on the neckline, even the air in mid-October in New York couldn't change this habit of his partner.

John•Charming•24/7•Reese

Reese didn't notice Finch's gaze. He saw a man sitting on a bench ten meters away. He was in a pure black suit, with nicely trimmed beard, but his slightly longer hair was scattered on the forehead because of the lacking of hair gel. Sitting there watching the dark gray American bulldog rested next to his feet. Was his look that attracted Reese's attention. He seemed to be that kind of troubleshooter guy. Since he was too sure about his capability, he looked unconcerned at the circumstances. He was like an example of a big faint living in the city. Reese suddenly felt that he was not the only man in suit in Big Apple.

The bulldog did not tie a rope. It didn't take long for it to notice Bear, and Bear saw it. The Belgian Shepherd dog started waving his tail. The bulldog lifted his head, and used gentle barking to catch that man in suit's attention. That man in suit looked down at the source of the bulldog's gaze and saw Reese and Finch sitting on the bench. He nodded, and they nodded back, like every friendly encountering dog owner.

The bulldog seemed got some kind of permission. It took small steps and ran to Bear's side. Bear swayed his tail a lot, and then the two dogs began to happily smell the other's tail.

"Hey---! Fluffy! Don't, bad dog." Reese and Finch heard a softly helpless male voice. (Reese found that the man in a black suit also figured out the source of the sound quickly and looked with interest.)

The sound belonged to a man who was not tall. (Curvy dark short hair with, scraped through the door of the scorpion, jeans, old but clean hoodie and thick black canvas jacket. Reese swept him quickly: single, quotidian.) He's holding a strong American Bulldog which size was bigger than the one that was playing with Bear. The quotidian man tightened the leash on his hand, lowered his head and stared at the bulldog's brown eyes: "Fluffy, don't."

He obviously noticed Bear and the dog that belonged to the man in black suit. He didn't seem to want his dog to play with them.

"Morning." Reese waved his hand and said hey to that man in jacket. The man stunned and then realized Reese was greeting.

"Morning." He kept his bulldog to his feet.

"Your dog seems want to play with them." Reese turned to two dogs in a group.

"This dog... isn't very good-tempered." The man hesitated for an opening.

"You didn't raise him for company, right?" Reese noticed that this dog got really activated when it saw small animals. There's a kind of feature belongs to a natural killer in this dog.

"I adopt him from IBARF." That man clearly noticed his dog's reaction, so he tighted the leash again: "His last owner broke her neck, and he was there, next to his owner's body, when people found the dead body and called the police."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Said Reese. "IBARF? Inter-Boro Animal Rescue Foundation? I heard that they'll keep dogs till they died unless somebody adopt them."

"That's true. All animals there got clean shelters and enough food. I don't know how that place touched me but I want to get out of there when I was standing in front of the desk doing those paper works."

"This place sounds like an animals' nursing house but every animal got a life imprisonment."

"Sort of."

They had another little chat. Topics were basically around dogs, then that man in jacket said his dog need another ride. They nodded to each other as a simple goodbye.

During Finch and Reese's way home, Finch broke the silence: " Did the nickname _Baba Yaga_ ring a bell?"

"A creepy old witch who lives in a running cabin with chicken's legs and eats children?" Reese teased.

Finch stared at Reese: "That man in black suit is the most legendary contract killer alive. Mysterious, extremely dangerous to his targets. His profile didn't exist in any governments' database."

"He's pretty good-looking actually. You won't imagine that face when you heard Baba Yaga."

Finch rolled his eyes: "If you say so, Mr. Reese."

"I like his suit. It's very in shape."

"What are you suggesting? My tailors can do better."

"I know they can, Harold." Reese put his arm around Finch's shoulder, held him tight, and kissed Finch in his check. "How about that jacket guy? How does machine said to him?"

"He is also a hit man, but more understated."

"Are they a threat?"

"The interesting thing comes. According to the data machine gave me. They are harmless to the society."

"Modern Robin Hood?" Reese imagined there were other set of people out there doing the same job that they are doing now. Saving people, hunting threats, our business. He told Finch this idea. Finch nodded: "Surely. For that two guys, m aybe you share more interests with them. Why don't you hold a hit man's afternoon tea party?"

"That's actually a good idea, Harold. So how can I contact them and let them trust me?"

"You are the field guy, Mr. Reese. You can always figure that out."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Small talks

Wick seemed not surprised when three of them were sitting around one table outside a café. He's in his pure black suit as the day Reese met him, with the dark grey shirt inside. Keller's style was more causal. The suit top and the jeans bottom fitted well. Reese was in his regular suit. They looked at each other, while no body talked. Reese didn't know what were they thinking now, but he guessed that they probably was assessing each other.

The instinct of the hit man. Reese thought. You can never change that. Just like a cook will judge the food they ate, regardless of they keep the comments inside their mind, or they spoke out loud.

"Do you want to order now, gentlemen?" The waiter asked.

"I would like a medium Americano, with two cubes of sugar, please." Said Reese.

"A cup of espresso will be good. Thank you." Wick kept his words short. He gave his order out just at the moment when the waiter finished writing down Reese's and turned to him. And he didn't look at the menu at the whole time. Wick was that kind of person who will be marked as the important guest in the shop he usually been. The waiters will prepare his usual seat and meals when he appears at the door.

"How about you, mister?" The waiter asked Keller. 

"What's your special today?" Keller closed the menu, then looked in the waiter's eyes concentratedly.

"Do you usually have the habit of drinking coffee?" The waiter asked.

"Not really. I don't want bitter drinks today." Keller answered.

"Then I recommande Cappuccino. It tastes milky. You can choose skinny milk and syrup-free if you worry about it's too sweet."

Keller squinted for a few seconds. He opened the menu and browsed it from start to finish again. He gave his order cofidently when he closed the menu: "I want a large strawberry smoothie. 50% sugar, and extra cookie. Thanks."

The waiter quickly marked this: "Your order will be done soon, gentlemen."

They stared at each in silence other until the waiter put drinks in front of them. 

"So... we are doing the same for living." Keller first started talking, while he's busying in stirring those extra cookie and cream together.

"Almost." Said Reese. "I'm John."

Wick lifted one side of his eyebrows: "I'm also a John."

"Fair enough." Reese shrugged.

"I'm Keller."

"Finally. Some hit men who didn't named John." Reese took a sip of his coffee.

"My friends called me Keller. I called myself Keller during self-introduction." Keller stopped there, kept stirring his drink.

"But my Mom named me John."

"Wow." Wick tried to sneer by clenching his mouth. "What a coincidence!"

"Yeah, I didn't see that we share so much in common in the park previously." Reese replied.

They chatted for a while, and knew that they have different customer bases. 

Wick mentioned his work: "Just like working in a company with shitty bosses. They treated you as a tool. And the scene will go nasty when they didn't satisfy about your work. They'll even try to kill your friends and people who helped you when they marked you as a threat. "

"That sounds horrify." Keller commented. "I had saved enough of my retirement money and later spent it. Maybe I don't know what to do after I really retire. When you suddenly get a lot of leisure time from your busy schedule, you will actually be panic."

Wick nodded and agreed.

"I don't have vacations." Reese was waiting his coffee to cool down.

"How's your boss?" Asked Wick.

"Married me."

Wick looked not surprised: "Me too."

Keller: "Wow, dudes, wow."

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think my English is that good. Pointed out grammar mistakes you noticed is welcomed! Thank you so much!


End file.
